2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

The year of the electric at Pikes Peak? Rhys Millen proved otherwise.

It's not exactly like Indy in the 1960s—when the rear-engine revolution made classic Offy-powered roadsters obsolete—but big changes are afoot at Pikes Peak. Now that the 12.42-mile course is fully paved, Pikes has effectively become a road race, with each racer striving to find the fastest way up the 156-turn course that climbs its way past the tree line and ends at a barren 14,110-ft. summit. Typically, the recipe for success has involved huge turbochargers, massive wings, incredible guts and a compromise setup that works well on both pavement and dirt. This year, though, perhaps because of the simpler challenge of smooth tarmac (and even a few guardrails in strategic places), the race drew a large and diverse field of 83 cars, including a record seven electric cars that couldn't care less about air density and altitude.

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As most know by now, Rhys Millen in his Hyundai Genesis Coupe proved that gasoline is still an excellent fuel source, winning overall for the first time and setting the fastest time ever on the course. While it was poignant to see Rhys put the mountain back in the Millen name, many feel that a victory by an EV remains a certain eventuality. Even if you don't subscribe to that belief, there's no denying that 2012 was a transition year in which classic hill climb open-wheelers and stock cars battled a growing number of road race machines and EVs, all hoping to capture some Pikes Peak glory of their own.

"This is my drift car that we raced two weeks ago in Seattle," explained a beaming Millen, who just set a new course record in his turbocharged 700-bhp rear-wheel-drive Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Aided by a new Holinger gearbox (a no-lift shifter used in Australian V8 Supercars) and significantly wider rear tires, Millen was able to beat the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Romain Dumas by a scant 0.017 seconds. "This is my biggest victory in 18 years of racing at Pikes Peak," said Millen, who had to choke back tears while speaking of his father Rod, the long-time record holder at Pikes Peak. "My dad is the best driver in the world. To achieve one of the things he achieved...it's just awesome."

"We were not expecting to be so close in performance," said Dumas, the Porsche factory driver (and Le Mans winner) whose privateer 911 GT3 R was naturally aspirated yet still managed to come within a blink of the overall win. Dumas attacked like the superb French tarmac rally driver he is, tearing up the course with precision until the last sector, where rain cost him an estimated 15 seconds. Although he put in a stellar effort, Dumas wasn't happy at the top, stating that several red flags caused by crashes delayed his run until late in the day, when thunderstorms are common. "It's not fair. The fast cars should go first."

Donner, a Peak veteran, won Unlimited in the Palatov D4, a tiny tube-frame 1200-lb. sports racer powered by a 400-bhp Hartley V-8—effectively a pair of Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engines that share a billet block and mate to a paddle-shift Hewland gearbox. "This race has changed," says Donner, overall winner in 2005. "A multitude of classes can now take the overall win. The gravel era is completely gone, and those who set the records in gravel get all the credit they deserve. But you can't compare times now because the road is faster. I think a 9:15 is possible." And just how will Donner get there? "Next year, we plan to be turbocharged, lighter and have more ground effects."

Of all the electric efforts at Pikes Peak, the Toyota Motorsport GmbH looked most poised to win the Electric class and perhaps score an overall win. After all, the P002 had set an electric lap record at the Nordschleife in August 2011, proving that this Radical-based race chassis is very well sorted. And win at Pikes Peak it did, shattering the previous electric record (12:20.084) by more than two minutes. In Pikes Peak configuration, the TMG EV P002, with lithium-ion batteries and two 350-kW axial flux motors, has a top speed of 149 mph.

Masuoka, a Paris-Dakar legend, had a tough week, crashing in practice and damaging the tube-frame i-MiEV Evolution. In the race, though, he drove the awd 3-motor prototype to an impressive 2nd in class. Masuoka said the MiEV's acceleration was constant all the way to the top. The electric motors (one front, two rear) are from the production i-MiEV, but new software bumps them from 49 kW (65.7 hp) to 80 kW (107.3 hp) The lithium batteries have more than twice the storage capacity of the street i-MiEV. Incidentally, Beccy Gordon (Robby's sister, Ryan Hunter-Reay's wife) proved that a stock i-MiEV has no trouble climbing Pikes at a good pace.

Many thought it was Dallenbach's year. He knows the road; Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima was dealing with a new electric car (which DNF'd); and the PVA-03—powered by a Gail Banks Chevy V-8 with 1400 bhp—absolutely flies. But his practice speeds were a bit off, later attributed to cracked intake plenum. Then, on race day, Paul looked good until his throttle stuck open in 5th gear, sending him off course at 130 mph, shearing off several trees. "When I went into the trees I closed my eyes and it felt like I was firing a machine gun," said Dallenbach. His plans for 2013 may involve a Daytona Prototype with the same Banks engine. "The wheelbase might be a bit long for the hairpins, but I'm gonna call Bill Riley [of Riley & Scott] right now."